To think pregnant women should get the vaccine

[HopefulRose]

This is controversial but had a lively debate with a family member about this today. I’m currently pregnant and double jabbed and hopeful I can get my booster soon. I’ve been quite surprised and tbh annoyed at the number of pregnant women refusing to get the vaccine.

Pregnant women who are unvaccinated end up getting much more sick from Covid than those who have the vaccines. And those who are getting ill end up taking up resources in hospitals which causes a knock on effect to the care of other pregnant women who are vaccinated. A friend recently was supposed to have a home birth but had to go into hospital because there weren’t enough midwives due to this very problem.

Perhaps it’s a failure on the government/ DHSC’s behalf for not communicating this strongly enough. I understand if there are genuine concerns but most of the people I’ve spoken to who don’t want the vaccine don’t appear to be interested in the medical or logical arguments and their decisions come from ‘feeling’ (or Facebook) rather than reasoning.

@Flev I was told when I had my first vaccination that if you are pregnant at their site they automatically get a doctor to chat through any concerns you might have before you have it so it was probably something like that.

I’m triple jabbed and pregnant and YABU, it’s personal choice. I had my booster whilst pregnant because I was already double jabbed when I fell pregnant. If I were to be offered my first whilst pregnant I’m not sure I would say yes.

It’s a really hard one.

@SingItToWinIt

You can think whatever you like. You're not unreasonable for having your own feelings on the matter.

Personally I would never have the vaccination whilst pregnant because there's no long term data on effects on the baby.

Confused by this. There’s a lot of data now. The reason why they didn’t authorise pregnant women in first place was to get that data. The sheer numbers of vaccinated women world wide provide a massive data set

There is also massive amounts of data worldwide on the long term effects of non vaccinated women becoming ill- death, still births etc

Good grief get back in your box and mind your own business, pregnant women should be free to make their own healthcare choices without being judged by people like you, people like you properly piss me off.

A friend recently was supposed to have a home birth but had to go into hospital because there weren’t enough midwives due to this very problem.

This has always happened. Since well before covid. There aren't enough staff to care properly for women in labour (and on post natal wards).

But thanks to covid we can shift the blame for this onto women instead of the health service. Obesity is a huge risk factor in pregnancy. No doubt the extra care required by obese women could impact you. Would you find this very annoying too?

🙄 OP - you knew this would be a wind ‘em up and watch them go…there are a great many reasons why pregnant women may choose to not have the jab during pregnancy, I was one of them. It was my choice just like everything else during my pregnancy was my choice. YOU are doubly vaccinated, you’ve done your bit, leave everyone else to make their own decisions? As others have noted, midwife shortages are not only to do with covid.

Yanbu in fact everyone should get vaccinated but you'll never persuade some people

Why are you annoyed at someone else's decision?

I fell pregnant in January with a high risk pregnancy (twins). The advice was definitely not to get it, then it changed in June (I think) to say we should. But as a pp mentioned, without any long term data of the affects it would have on a baby, there is no way I was having it.

My hospital were starting the trial in august to see the affects on babies and will follow them aged 0-2. So that sealed the deal with me along with my midwife telling me she wouldn't get it either.

You shouldn't judge other people for what they decide to do with their body.

Ps for the sake of Mumsnet - I had the babies on the Sunday and first jab on the Thursday. Am due my second this coming Thursday so got it done right away.

YANBU to have had the vaccine yourself, you weighed the risks and your own comfort level and deemed it an acceptable risk. It's not completely risk free, as with any medicine or vaccine there's always a small risk.

YABU to expect everyone else to come to the same decision as you. From the minute you get pregnant it's drummed into you that essentially all medication with the exception of paracetamol should be avoided (and even then the advice is use as little as possible). So of course people will be concerned about a brand new vaccine.

I'm double jabbed, but I'm not pregnant and I honestly can't say if I'd have the vaccine if I was pregnant. I've struggled to conceive for 2 years now so I think I'd be unlikely to take any additional risks. Ultimately you don't know what every pregnant woman's circumstances are so YABU to judge or 'be annoyed'

I totally understand why women haven't got it given the change in messaging but I know two unvaccinated women who caught covid when their babies were less than a fortnight old and obviously it was a very worrying time for them both, so getting the vaccine after birth should be an absolute priority if you've not had it in pregnancy. (The reason they'd not had it in pregnancy was because they were part of that group of women for whom the change in advice came part way through their pregnancy so they decided to wait.)

@Quail15

I have a 6 month old and I work in a&e - I worked throughout my pregnancy despite COVID.

At 6 months pregnant I was told that I definitely should NOT get the vaccine as it hasn't been tested properly .... then at 8 months pregnant told I definitely SHOULD get the vaccine . You can't blame people for being cautious when the information they are being given changes so quickly. After many miscarriages there was no way I was going to put anything in my body that I wasn't 100% sure of.

I'm still breastfeeding so still haven't had the vaccine. I will have it before I return to work. I have already had COVID .

This is exactly what happened to me too- told definitely don't get it, then definitely do.... seemed people just didn't know and I couldn't forgive myself if it had long term implications for the baby as there were no clinical trials or research at the time that I could rely on. I decided to wait until the baby was here before getting my vaccine and would make the same decision again. I was as safe as could be and isolated as much as possible which felt safer than taking an untested vaccine

I’m pregnant, double vaxxed and I will get a booster if offered to me.

However there have been extremely mixed messages about if pregnant woman should be vaxxed or not. I’m hearing some midwifes still giving out old info (government leaflets) about not vaccinating pregnant women. I don’t think we should be pointing blame on pregnant women here.

The messaging was confused in the early days and I agree pregnant women can't do right for doing wrong and are constantly lectured about what is "good" for the baby.

But surely all women who want the vaccine of childbearing age have been "done" by now? I don't understand why there are still so many pregnant women who are unvaccinated unless you are in the very late stages of pregnancy.

I think some PP fail to understand what “long term” means. The vaccine hasn’t been around long enough for long term studies. Yes, so far the data is positive around the vaccine, but expectant mothers are well within their rights to wait and see what the data shows in 5 years time.

OP do you take the same view that overweight women take care away from others? Home births take staff away from others? Those with mental health issues take resources away?

The messaging was absolutely confused.

When I went for my first jab (Pfizer) - they asked if there was a chance I could be pregnant.

I said yes there was a small chance, but unlikely (was trying).

The head nurse came out and said that if I was pregnant - there were risks attached in the first trimester, so I should wait and go and get both jabs in the second.

They agreed that I should nip out, take a pregnancy test. It was negative, so I had jab then and there.

She then strongly advised that if I fell pregnant on next few cycles, I should delay the second jab till trimester two. And said the evidence was that longer delays led to better efficacy so not to worry about that.

I wasn't pregnant yet, so had second jab. But had I fallen I certainly wouldn't have been booking with glee, and especially not in first trimester as I was explicitly told it could cause miscarriage.

I'd also have been avoiding third trimester as was told not enough data there. But was strongly advised to time both jabs for second so I guess I would have tried to do that. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Of course - jab two totally messed my period so then I had all sorts of fertility anxiety. But happily pregnant now. Not sure what the advice will be by the time I am due my booster, but I guess I will have to be guided by the medical professionals and hope they've actually worked out what's what by then.

It's a minefield. It's terrifying. And everyone keeps changing their mind about what's safe. Hardly surprising pregnant women are cautious and not sure what to do for the best. Judging them won't help anything. YABVU

Why do people fixate on it being safe in pregnancy? What about the long term effects on the baby?

Yes you might be fine getting it in pregnancy, suffer no side effects after getting the vax but that's not the only concern.

Leave pregnant women alone, most I know spend their time worrying about doing right by our unborn baby every day with what they eat, drink, exercise etc, so anyone who has made the choice to not have the vax, don't bloody assume they are some mad anti-vaxer!

I was shocked when I happily informed a mw (in may) that I had had my first vaccine, I was about 30 wk pregnant and confident with my decision….the mw, who was not my usual one, but a stand in as she was on holiday, then went on a 15 minute long anti-vax rant!!! I was absolutely stunned that she thought this appropriate, given I had happily disclosed the fact I had had my jab. If I hadn’t have been so confident in my own decision I would have been worried sick at the stuff she was saying. Needless to say, I didn’t listen to a word of it, and booked my second jab shortly after. I do fear for the other ladies she saw and managed to convince otherwise.

I had both of my shots before getting pregnant but have decided not to get the booster until after delivery.

If something did go wrong with this pregnancy I would always wonder if it was the shot and blame myself for it. I'm double vaccinated, had covid before them and now WFH. My risk of getting covid is very very low.

I had my first dose of Moderna before I was pregnant without a second thought, wasn't at all worried about it, felt totally fine. I then got pregnant, and haven't had my second vaccine. I feel really conflicted about it. I'm a sensible, well read, relatively intelligent person. But as PP have said, the advice went from 'don't have it within three months of TTC' to 'get it right now' with very little explanation about why and how.

I think it probably is fine. But I don't know. And it's very difficult to know what to do in that situation honestly. The advice from midwives has been mixed from people urging me to have it, to people saying they totally understand why I would wait until I've had the baby.

Aderyn21

Some hcp have doubts - they are not universally agreed that this is a wholly good idea

^ some HCP are rubbish and this is a huge clue which ones are.

Agree that you can think what you like but it doesn't mean you're correct. I would not have the vaccine when pregnant due to valid concerns for the safety of my baby. Just because you don't feel the same worry and concern does not invalidate my feelings. We don't know the long term risks and even know for certain all of the short term risks of mRNA technology, and that's a fact. So take a risk if you want, it's your body, your baby, and your right. Just like other mothers have the right to not do so.

The advice from midwives has been mixed from people urging me to have it, to people saying they totally understand why I would wait until I've had the baby.

Always midwives spouting this nonsense. Not doctors.

@ColinTheKoala

The messaging was confused in the early days and I agree pregnant women can't do right for doing wrong and are constantly lectured about what is "good" for the baby.

But surely all women who want the vaccine of childbearing age have been "done" by now? I don't understand why there are still so many pregnant women who are unvaccinated unless you are in the very late stages of pregnancy.

I wasn't offered my first jab until the middle of the summer because I was in my twenties. I then got pregnant in the gap between my first dose and what would have been my second jab. There are presumably a lot of us in that same boat.

You should have reported her for conflict of interest @Findingapath extremely unprofessional and dangerous of her.

I’m massively pro vaccine. But you cannot dictate what a pregnant woman does or does not do with their own body. That would be getting into a really dangerous area.